Some of you may have gotten the impression that I have some opinions about bee conservation. So now I'm putting my money where my mouth is and getting a tattoo of Ireland's most endangered bumblebee to raise funds for the Irish Wildlife Trust's 'People for Bees' talks.

The Great Yellow Bumblebee.

I will be paying for the tattoo and anything else connected to the fundraiser out of my own pocket so anything you donate goes straight to the cause. The first 10 people to donate over €20 will get one of these lovely Great Yellow Bumblebee pin badges from the Bumblebee Conservation Trust in the UK as a thank you from me.

The Irish Wildlife Trust lectures and workshops run in local libraries and community centres around Ireland, teaching people about bees and what they can do to help them in their areas and in their own gardens. Tidy Towns committees have been vital in providing spaces for wildflower planting.

The Great Yellow Bumblebee has lost much of its heathland habitat in Ireland and its range is now pushed back into just a few spots in the west and south-west of the country. I've never even seen one in real life, only photographs, though hopefully I'll get the chance some day.

Getting a tattoo is forever (as my mother has been reminding me) and with your help the Great Yellow can be too.

A very talented botantical artist Shevaun Doherty, who's work make up the cover the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan, has given my permission to use her drawing of bombus distinguendus for the tattoo.